Vaughn Taylor

Vaughn Taylor

Height: 6 ft. 0 in

Weight: 160 lbs

Birthday: 03/09/1976

College: Augusta State University

Turned Pro: 1999

Birthplace: Roanoke, Virginia

Country: United States

Sponsor: Taylor Made

Having been raised in Augusta, Georgia, the home of the US Masters, Taylor went on to attend Augusta State University where he got a chance to play Augusta National every year. He decided to have a go at professional golf in 1999. It took him a number of years to get his PGA Tour card having toiled on mini tours such as the Hooters Tour and Nationwide Tour. Four of Taylor’s seven wins as a professional came on the Hooters Tour and one of them came on the Nationwide Tour (2003 Knoxville Open).

In his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Taylor managed to win the Reno-Tahoe Open despite shooting a final round 75. He won a four man play-off, defeating fellow Americans Scott McCarron and Hunter Mahan as well as Australian Stephen Allen on the first hole of the play-off. While the tournament was played the same week as a WGC event, it was still a good win for the rookie. He finished the season 67th on the money list. In 2005, Taylor managed to defend his Reno-Tahoe title, this time winning comfortably by three shots. Adding to his first place in Reno, was an additional 3 top 10 finishes, with Taylor ending the year 37th on the money list.

Having had another steady season in 2006, finishing 36th on the money list despite no wins, Taylor qualified for the 2006 United States Ryder Cup team. It was the first time the historic competition was played in Ireland. The week was all one sided in favour of the home team, who beat the US 18.5 points to 9.5 points. Taylor only played twice; drawing a foursome’s match and losing his singles match 4&3 to the Swedish rookie Henrik Stenson, who managed to sink the winning putt for the European team. Taylor failed to reach the highs of his first couple of seasons and has gone winless since 2005. He lost a play-off to Matt Kuchar in 2009 after six play-off holes and he lost a play-off to Anthony Kim at the 2010 Houston Open. For the last couple of years, Taylor has been trying to regain his full PGA Tour card by playing on the Web.com Tour.